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Tag Archives: Peace

It’s easy to get caught in thinking you are the only one facing a momentary challenge in your life or long-running adversity, the only one with unanswered questions, or the only one who hasn’t figured out how to create the balance, health, relationships, finances or career success you want.

But that’s actually not the case.

Everyone faces challenges!

Everyone has unanswered questions of some sort. Everyone is working out how to create what they want. Everyone is evolving in their own unique way, at their own pace.

One way you are conditioned to feel like you’re the only one with challenges is that you are led to believe everyone else “has got it together” because most people are only showing the sanitized and happy aspects of their life to the world – on social media, in social situations, and in conversation.

Many people keep the dark moments to themselves or sharing only with those trusted and loved people closest to them. That is natural and of course in many cases quite appropriate. But it leads you into a false perspective of your own situation in relation to others.

No one else on this planet is going to unfold in their life like you are. No one. No one else is uniquely like you. You cannot be compared. What you most need to understand when you go into comparison mode in your mind, is that you channel all of your energy away from your own creative processes. Instead of focusing your thoughts and feelings and actions on creating outcomes for yourself, you focus all of your attention to someone else and what they are creating for themselves. This leaves you no power and it is also a complete waste of your precious energy.

Just because unhealthy comparison doesn’t serve you, does not mean you can’t genuinely observe and admire the success of another person. This is actually uplifting – feeling joy for all they are being and creating. You may well feel inspired into the ongoing possibilities for yourself by witnessing them flourishing. You may see opportunities to learn from what they are doing. You may be able to apply that learning in your own path, in your own unique way, aligned with your passions, inspirations, and intuition, to aid your success.

And… you will always clearly know the difference between this form of positive observation and learning, versus pure painful comparison. The former leaves you feeling uplifted and excited, and the latter leaves you feeling sad, frustrated and deflated.

Am sending my love to you guys. My professional colleagues in my community, my readers, and my followers. You guys made my 2018 great. Learnt a lot from you people and thank God we all here to celebrate Christmas.

So I decree and declare that…This Christmas, I wish peace sequester your life, love flood your soul and happiness are reflected in your face, I wish you from the heart all the good that you deserve.May you never miss LOVE … and if you do not find it, you already know where I live.

I wish you a Christmas full of mathematics: addicted to pleasure, subtracted from pain, multiplied with happiness and divided in love with the people that matter most to you.

In a situation where someone else seems to have it wrong, and you feel (or know!) that you’re right, it’s oh so very tempting to point out their wrongness.

The ego loves that.

However, have you ever noticed that trying to show others you’re right, often comes at a cost?

By it’s very nature the act of PROVING SOMEONE WRONG or PROVING SELF RIGHT doesn’t involve much peace. It involves an energy, even if very subtle, of separation and judgment.

Now – that said, it’s quite valid to be right! There will be plenty of times in life when you are right, and someone else is technically “wrong”, but the questions to ask ourselves in those times are…

Does it really matter who is right or wrong?

Does it really make any difference if I point out how right I am?

Would I rather have peace as quickly as possible?

So in those moments when you want to stand up for yourself, or have the last word, or feel the need to counter someone else’s viewpoint (and there are plenty of opportunities for that in a world of contrasting beliefs and opinions), ask instead…

Would I rather be right or would I rather be peaceful?

Personally, most often these days I choose peace. There are very few times where it adds value to my life, to others or to this world if I were to battle to be right. So I don’t. Not because I can’t, not because the topic isn’t important. Simply because… I VALUE PEACE MORE.

We have to ignore the apocalyptic voices in our head that take us to hell instead of heaven. We have to ignore the way they frighten us and the way they belittle us to believe that we’re not good enough. We have to try to shove them aside when they attack us and we have to trust ourselves more even if we’re unsure of ourselves. We have to ignore our uncertainty and just keep moving.

We have to ignore the critics.

We have to ignore their opinions and their advice, we have to ignore their rules and their limitations and we have to ignore the toxic words they use to describe us and the poisonous arguments they feed us about why we shouldn’t do this or why we shouldn’t follow that. We have to ignore their experiences because it is not our own and we have to ignore their excuses because that’s how they justify living their lives and we need to find our own justifications.

We have to ignore those who left us behind.

We have to ignore their promises, the plans we made for the future, the secrets they shared with us and the way they looked at us. We have to ignore these enchanting moments because they’re no longer happening. They chose to take it all back and we have no other choice but to leave them behind too, because fighting for them might not bring them back and even if it did, they will run away again. We have to ignore those who didn’t appreciate us and we have to ignore the way they made us feel about ourselves.

We have to ignore some of our questions.

We have to ignore the dreadful questions we ask ourselves every night: ‘Why me? When will I be happy? What do I want? Why am I still here?’
Sometimes we have to ignore these tantalizing questions and trust that in time we will find the answers and that the answers may not always be what we wanted.

It’s hard to ignore the things that bother us but it’s also harder to live with all these burdens, they weigh us down if we pay too much attention to them.
We’re always faced with two choices; either we carry those burdens with us until they kill us or ignore them so we can live.

This week has been a week of sadness, sorrows, and tears. I myself am confused about what is really happening in Nigeria.

First of all, it was Fulani herdsmen killing 150 innocent people in Plateau Jos. Now it’s a tanker accident claiming innocent lives of over 50 vehicles.

O! Lord, Nigeria is your country. We seek for your candidate for us to rule this country next coming election. Father choose a leader for us like you did with the Israelites. We are tired of having ichabods as leaders who don’t have compassion and pity to the people.

I don’t know who’s reading this but am sure we all need prayers for our countries and leaders. Aside the horror occurrences in Nigeria, the world at large has been experiencing a lot of horrors too. Let us all come together and pray for our countries.

It’s been all sad and gory the news coming from jos. I have been traumatized by different video of people been killed and burnt like the sallah rams I knew whilst growing up. But the curious things is that these has been a constant feature in our lives since I was a child. We saw it in jos, Kafanchan, ife-modakeke, lagos, eastern nigeria etc. It’s only on our faces constantly now because of the way the world have evolved social media wise.

Unfortunately it will continue to happen except those who commit crime of taking other peoples lives are brought to justice and promptly too.

Jos had known relative peace in recent times only after both parties became tied of the vicious cycle of retaliatory killings. Now Jos has started again; it may take the next 5 years for common sense to prevail. When people cannot have confidence in the state to ensure justice; they will always resort to self help. Amongst other solutions that ensures that lives and properties are protected; we must start by ensuring that justice gets done whenever these things happen whether Fulani or berom or Yoruba or Igbo etc.

All of us as Nigerians are guilty; I mean all of us except the younger ones who have not yet been opinionated. We do nothing but spread hate in our lives in the name of defending our religions and myopic ethnic sentiments. We do it when we spread hate in social media like some people will comment on this post.

We must remember that it is easy to speak nonsense from our comfort zone; but reality sets In when we or our loved ones become victim. I was a kid when I witnessed chaos. My daughter is fourteen ; how will I explain to her that her countrymen and women slaughter people in this age and time? How do I rationalize that it makes sense to be a nigerian?

So I don’t believe a Muslim or Christian should be killed for the crime of people they don’t know but just because they have the misfortune of sharing same faith or ethnicity. You or me can just come under cross fire just because we are in the wrong side at the wrong time and a nonentity will take the liberty to snuff life out of us. Slaughter me or you and mutilate our body. It can be me or you if we don’t work together to stop this madness. Take a second to look at yourself in the mirror and imagine being slaughtered despite your dreams; despite your sacrifices for your nation; despite your status; I just did and it’s horrible!

Stereotyping will never help us. There is nothing like Fulani herdsmen as the killer; it’s simply criminals of Fulani or berom or Yoruba or Igbo ethnicity. When we categorize a whole ethnicity; we expose an innocent Fulani or Yoruba or berom or Igbo man. We must treat Murderers as criminals and we must as a society condemn them through the judiciary and banish them. Millions of lettered Nigerians; well exposed and well travelled have blood of innocent ones in their hands because they have help spread the categorization and stereotyping.

We need a leadership that can unite us as a country. If we think we have seen worse things, visit Rwanda. Go to their museum, speak to families and you will realize that with the right leadership, the right resolve, they rallied themselves and became one nation. The right leadership is not just MBuhari, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo. It’s me and you around our sphere of influence. Act now and drop the bulk passing! Sir and Ma, what narrative are you propagating?

Punchline: The devil cannot handle believers who know how to “hold their peace”.

When trouble comes, our first temptation is to get upset, speak out of our emotions, and start trying first one thing and then the other in the hopes of finding something that will work and turn the situation around. All of these are unacceptable behaviour for the believer who is walking in faith. Nine of them will bring victory. Jesus gave us peace. It is our inheritance. The devil regularly attempts to steal it, but peace is ours, and we must hold on to it. (See: Exodus 14:14).

As believers, we are seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6). The word seated refers to rest, and the words rest and leave are equivalent to one another.

The book of Hebrews teaches us to enter the rest of God and cease from the weariness and pain of human labour. (See Hebrews 4:3, 10-11) This peace is available to us and as been since Jesus Christ came, died for us, was resurrected from the dead, and ascended on high.

Once upon a time in my life, the devil played his mind game, throwing different negative thoughts in my mind, like: Will I be good enough married, how will I foot the bills for my wedding, how will I get a bigger space to raise a family, will I still have a job since am a contract staff, fear of the unknown now kicked in, everything became Bla bla bla!!! At some point I got knocked down and fell to his mind games. One day I tuned in to Daystar television, Joyce Meyer was ministering ,and the topic was peace. It’s like God took me to that channel deliberately. From there on, I regained my strength and thank God am in a process. I kept on saying “Greater Is He that’s in me, than he that is in the world” I went all scriptural in my declaring. I don’t have to feel condemned, I don’t have to be afraid because Christ lives in me. I will not worry over what tomorrow brings, because I trust the Lord for securing my future and whatever plans I make, He’s always there to see me through. Fear of the unknown is very dangerous to our health. It can make one sick, or commit suicide if not careful. The peace of God is very essential and needed in our life to put our trust in Him, and be joyful.

Peace is available, but we are encouraged to enter it. We enter the peace of God by believing His word and by trusting in Him instead of in ourselves or someone else.

We benefit when we defeat the devil, but Jesus also benefits. It gives Him glory when we operate according to His word. He is able to bless us with our inheritance in Him. Talking about the promises of God is encouraging, but possessing them is much better.

God’s plan is to work in our lives to bring us to the place where we can keep ourselves at rest during times of adversity. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Fear not, for I am with you, do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am you God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My right hand of rightness and justice.

All those in strife against you, those who come at you with a spirit of contention and war, shall end up as nothing. So hold your peace. As you hold your peace, I can work because it shows that you are trusting Me.

The next time something or someone threatens to steal your peace, don’t give in. Instead, release God’s power by holding on to your inheritance and trusting that He will take care of the situation for you.

The following words were part of a sermon given by Dr. Martin Luther King at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 4, 1968.

I know a man — and I just want to talk about him a minute, and maybe you will discover who I’m talking about as I go down the way (Yeah) because he was a great one. And he just went about serving. He was born in an obscure village, (Yes, sir) the child of a poor peasant woman. And then he grew up in still another obscure village, where he worked as a carpenter until he was thirty years old. (Amen) Then for three years, he just got on his feet, and he was an itinerant preacher. And he went about doing some things. He didn’t have much. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. (Yes) He never owned a house. He never went to college. He never visited a big city. He never went two hundred miles from where he was born. He did none of the usual things that the world would associate with greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. They called him a rabble-rouser. They called him a troublemaker. They said he was an agitator. (Glory to God) He practiced civil disobedience; he broke injunctions. And so he was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. And the irony of it all is that his friends turned him over to them. (Amen) One of his closest friends denied him. Another of his friends turned him over to his enemies. And while he was dying, the people who killed him gambled for his clothing, the only possession that he had in the world. (Lord help him) When he was dead he was buried in a borrowed tomb, through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen centuries have come and gone and today he stands as the most influential figure that ever entered human history. All of the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned put together (Yes) have not affected the life of man on this earth (Amen) as much as that one solitary life. His name may be a familiar one. (Jesus) But today I can hear them talking about him. Every now and then somebody says, “He’s King of Kings.” (Yes) And again I can hear somebody saying, “He’s Lord of Lords.” Somewhere else I can hear somebody saying, “In Christ there is no East nor West.” (Yes) And then they go on and talk about, “In Him there’s no North and South, but one great Fellowship of Love throughout the whole wide world.” He didn’t have anything. (Amen) He just went around serving and doing good.

This morning, you can be on his right hand and his left hand if you serve. (Amen) It’s the only way in.

Every now and then I guess we all think realistically (Yes, sir) about that day when we will be victimized with what is life’s final common denominator—that something that we call death. We all think about it. And every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don’t think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, “What is it that I would want said?” And I leave the word to you this morning.

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. (Yes) And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. (Yes)

I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. (Yes)

I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. (Amen)

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. (Yes)

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. (Yes)

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. (Lord)

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. (Yes)

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. (Amen) Say that I was a drum major for peace. (Yes) I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. (Yes) I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. (Amen) And that’s all I want to say.

“Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

According to the Olympic Charter, one of the formal goals of the Olympic movement is to serve “the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society.” In other words, the organizers of the Olympics seek to use the games as a way to encourage global peace. Yet, as Keith Rathbone points out at The Conversation , the Olympic committee has but a “very limited ability to promote peace between warring nations.”

Rathbone begins his article by explaining the role of peace in the “refoundation of the Olympic Games.” The people behind the modern-day Olympics organization, he shows, were highly driven by a desire to promote peace. In fact, a majority of the signers of the original Olympic Charter were a part of one peace movement or another, and several of them would go on to earn Nobel Peace Prizes. Rathbone also cites the founder of the International Olympics Committee, who, at one time, clearly stated his intention of promoting world peace through the athletic competitions.

Indeed, a number of the Olympic Games throughout the years have served to promote “international reconciliation,” as Rathbone says. They have helped bring unity back to war-torn and conflict-ridden parts of the globe. Rathbone offers specific examples of this in his article, citing the “global upheaval of the 1990s” in particular. He also points to the positive effects of the Olympic Truce, an element of the games inspired by the ancient Greek practice in the original Ancient Greek Games.

Despite the positive effects that the Olympics have had in the matter of world peace, Rathbone points out that the Olympic Games still have major limitations in this area. As Rathbone sharply reminds us, “the Olympics did not end either of the two world wars.” In fact, wars actually prevented the games from happening several times in the last century, and some governments, such as the Nazis, have actually used the games as occasions for exacerbating international conflicts.

Even this year’s Olympics in Pyeongchang has already brought along its own share of conflict. So, before we begin to rely on the Olympic Games as a solution to international conflicts, let’s remember that the Olympic Committee faces the same limitations that all other human institutions face. Among these is the inability to promote true and lasting peace.